Thursday, July 14, 2011

If you were at the vernissage of Pretty Ugly Art on Thursday, July 7/11,you may have been part of the audience or you may have participated in Ali Sztepa's courageous, some would say, bold or brazen, performance art piece. Indeed, brazen was the colour of her hair before it was shorn, a self-described brassy gold, frizzy, she said, but this was not something one noticed that evening.

What captured the imagination, instead, was the giving of scissors to strangers and inviting them to cut her hair...in public. And not just a trim, cut it all off. You could take off as much as you wanted, lay it on the green circle, akin to an alter cloth, or tuck away a lock in your pocket, for old-time's sake.

Having one's hair cut is an intimate act, like going to the doctor, it's between you and your chosen professional. Having amateur Edward Scissorhands go at what is often called a woman's crown and glory, was an act of trust and profound courage.

Ali says she fashioned her hair piece after a dramatic gesture made by John Lennon and Yoko Ono who cut their hair short on January 24, 1970, declaring that 1970 would be ‘Year One’ for peace.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Hello, Just a quick note to let you know that this blog is for artists currently showing at the Patrick John Mills Gallery and for those who will be showing and for those who plan to be showing their art at the gallery. And of course, it is for the whole wide world to read, enjoy or be perturbed by, and to leave a comment if they so desire.

Twenty people who have an association with PJM Gallery were reinvited today to participate in this group blog and it would be wonderful to hear how they are doing with their art, how their experience working with artists at PJM has been, what the vernissage was like for them, did they enjoy the evening, what caught their fancy, plus anything about their art and the creative experience.

Monday, July 11, 2011

We work with our hands and some people think they can't or they don't want to. Plus there's something about giving another person an idea and letting them run with it, wanting to see what they come up with.

I'd like to share my more recent commission and then let you, colleagues and fellow artists, post your most fave or most bizarre or even your most difficult commission. The time someone wanted you to do something for their grandfather's gravestone, or the time you were given a few words that formed a vague concept and you just went with it.